K-Rod set for record breaker

Angels closer is one save away from single-season best

Francisco Rodriguez is poised to set a new single-season saves record.

The Angels closer got his 57th save of the year on Thursday night against the Mariners. The save tied Bobby Thigpen's all-time mark set in 1990. Both players were 26 years old when they reached the mark.

"I have to give credit to my teammates," Rodriguez told the Los Angeles Times. "I'd be really, really selfish if I said I set it by myself. But that's what I get paid for. That's my job right there."

Brian Wilson has eye on triathlon training: Brian Wilson is known as a workout fiend. During the offseason, the Giants' closer plans to move to Los Angeles and train for a triathlon.

"I'm going to start training for an Ironman Triathlon," Wilson told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I'm not going to do the one in Hawaii and come in last. I'm just going to mix up my own one in Santa Monica, Calif. My buddy came up with a little course I'm going to go ahead and try."

"Probably two par-five's worth" is how Wilson described the swimming portion.

Reyes overtakes Mookie as Mets' top stealer: Jose Reyes became the Mets' all-time leader in steals Wednesday night when he stole second base in the third inning against Washington.

Reyes' 282 steals moved him ahead of Mookie Wilson. The Mets' speedster then added his second steal of the night and 49th of the season when he stole third base.

"I felt really good [Tuesday] night," Reyes told Newsday. "Lately, I don't feel too good from the right side. I don't know why."

Oswalt stays on schedule, remains stellar: With the Chicago Cubs scheduled to come to town for a three-game series starting Friday, Houston manager Cecil Cooper briefly thought about pushing Roy Oswalt's start back one day. But in the end, he decided to have Oswalt pitch on his scheduled day -- Thursday against Pittsburgh. It's a good thing, since the games Friday and Saturday were postponed due to Hurricane Ike.

Oswalt was brilliant again. He helped the Astros win their sixth game in a row and 14th in their last 15 games. Oswalt pitched a complete-game shutout, his second in a row. He allowed only three hits and faced the minimum amount of hitters as the Astros immediately turned a double-play after each hit. Oswalt also set a club record for consecutive scoreless innings with 32 1/3.

"We talked about it [pushing Oswalt back] a little bit, but sometimes guys are just comfortable staying on regular rest and routine," Cooper told the Houston Chronicle before the game. "Baseball players are kind of like that. They're kind of strange birds sometimes. They like their regular routine."

Scherzer earns another start after strong debut: Max Scherzer earned another start for the Diamondbacks after striking out 11 hitters in his spot start against the Dodgers. Manager Bob Melvin praised the rookie's performance against the Dodgers, considering it was a high-pressure situation and he was told he was starting on short notice.

"They got a couple of runs on a broken-bat hit, and he comes out there the next inning with fire in his eyes," Melvin told the Arizona Republic.

Scherzer allowed three runs in five-plus innings and had a string of eight strikeouts against nine batters at one point.

Haeger's knuckleball attracts Padres: The San Diego Padres claimed knuckleball pitcher Charlie Haeger off waivers from the Chicago White Sox in a move general manager Kevin Towers called "a good gamble for nothing."

Since the Padres play in the vast Petco Park, Towers believes Haeger, 24, can be effective with the Padres.

"I have always thought a knuckleballer would have success for a coastal club where the air is more dense," Towers, a former Triple-A pitcher, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "And of course this ballpark favors that style of pitcher, à la [Tim] Wakefield.

"Most knuckleballers are also late developers as well."

Teagarden adding firepower at the plate: Taylor Teagarden is making a push to earn a lot of playing time for the Texas Rangers in 2009. The rookie catcher had three RBIs and two hits against Seattle to help lead the Rangers to a 7-3 victory on Wednesday. He now has three home runs and nine RBIs.

"I've gotten a few hits here the last couple games, and I'm starting to feel more comfortable," Teagarden, who went 2-for-5 to raise his average to .350 in 20 big league at-bats, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Hopefully, I'll get to where I was when I was feeling real good in 2007."

Cameron gives Brewers reason to smile: Mike Cameron singled in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Brewers to a 4-3 win on Wednesday. It brought to an end a rollercoaster-ride of a homestand.

"As crazy as this homestand has been, this is a little bit satisfying," Cameron told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "We're able to get out of here with a good feeling.

"It's always good when you can get a big hit in a situation, especially where we've been the last few days -- the highs and the lows."

Glaus gets good news on ailing shoulder: With no structural damage to his ailing right shoulder, Troy Glaus is hopeful that the treatment he received will have him back in the Cardinals lineup sooner rather than later. In the meantime, he waits -- anxiously.

"I'm not excited about not playing, not at all," Glaus told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "But I am excited there is no structural damage. There's nothing that needs to be fixed. It just needs to calm down."

Kinney perfect in return from Tommy John surgery: After missing nearly two entire seasons following Tommy John surgery, Josh Kinney was thrilled to get into the Cardinals game against the Cubs on Wednesday night, working a scoreless seventh inning in his first regular-season action since Oct. 1, 2006. He set down three Cubs batters on only six pitches.

"It was a nice night, just getting back out there and getting my feet wet again," Kinney told the Belleville News-Democrat. "It's been a while, but it felt familiar to me once I got out there. I knew an inning in advance I was going to throw the seventh. I had time to get under control.

"I'm kind of focused on getting back and proving to myself that I'm healthy and that I can do this. I guess I didn't get as excited about it as probably most would think. Maybe it was the loss, maybe it's just me. It's kind of what I expected to do. I expected to get back and get a chance to pitch."

Lewis throws eight scoreless innings in debut: In his Major League debut, Scott Lewis tossed eight scoreless innings to help the Indians to a 7-1 win over Baltimore. Lewis, who faced the minimum from the fifth inning on, gave up just three hits and struck out three.

"I can't be disappointed about anything that happened tonight," Lewis told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I've been on a strict pitch count my whole career because of injuries. I figured once I got close to 100 pitches, I'd be coming out."

Myers ready to take mound at moment's notice: There's a strong chance that the Phillies, who watched Jamie Moyer pick up a win on Thursday night while working on just three days' rest, are going to ask Brett Myers to do the same thing against Milwaukee on Sunday.

"I'll pitch tomorrow. I don't care," Myers, who has pitched on three days' rest once in his career, told the Philadelphia Daily News. "It doesn't matter to me, if it gets us to the playoffs. Whatever it takes. If they ask me, then we'll see. My arm usually bounces back pretty good. I felt pretty good [Wednesday] after throwing 120 pitches against the Mets. If they ask me, I'm definitely going to take the ball anytime they ask me to do it."

Konerko expects to push knee down the stretch: Paul Konerko says that his sore right knee -- the result of a sprain of his medial collateral ligament -- is not going to keep him from being a part of the White Sox pennant race. If he can play, he says, he's going to.

"If this happened in April or May, you might wait until there was no pain," Konerko told the Chicago Tribune. "But I'll just wait until it can function. And if there's some pain, that's fine. It's that time of year when you have to get back in there. We're fighting for a spot in the playoffs. But it has to be able to function.

"There's only a couple of weeks left. And if you get in [the playoffs], it'll be worth it. And if you don't, you have four months to rest."

Jurrjens sets career-high with 10 strikeouts: Jair Jurrjens fanned a career-high 10 batters and earned his 13th win of the season Thursday against the Rockies thanks to some heavy hitting by Chipper Jones, Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar.

"I told those guys I need to buy them dinner," Jurrjens told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "This is a game we played like a team. It's fun to play like that. It's fun to see the dugout so light."

"My fastball really had some zip today," Jurrjens added. "The last couple games I was trying to throw hard, and my body was a little fatigued. Today I was feeling like I did in March."

Uggla finds results after plate adjustment: Dan Uggla has had a big season at the plate, hitting 30 home runs, but it was his key two-run double against the Phillies on Wednesday night that gave the Marlins a spark.

"I went through a funk there for a little bit where changeups where giving me a lot of problems," Uggla told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "I just had to make an adjustment, and I feel like I've done that the last two or three weeks, laying off changeups or putting a decent swing on one if it's in the strike zone."